Spool and coil handling device for a rolling mill

ABSTRACT

The disclosure of this invention relates to an handling device for spools or similar cylindrical tubular members as used, for example, for winding metallic strip material produced by a rolling mill.

United States Patent 1 1 Shumaker [451 Apr. 24, 1973 SPOOL AND COILHANDLING DEVICE [56] References'Cited FOR A ROLLING MILL UNITED STATESPATENTS 75 I t 1 Ch 1 1 or g f P Shumaker 3,212,650 10/1965 Sharpe C181..214 1 BB 1 1 2,613,823 10/1952 Johns ..214/1 BB [73] Assignee: UnitedEngineering and Foundry g t 1 0c strom et a p'ttsburgh 3,178,040 4/1965N1SO11 ..214/1 BB [22] Filed: Apr. 13, 1971 2,387,890 10 1945 Egge..214/1 BB [21] Appl' 3568 Primary Examiner-Robert J, Spar IAtt0rneyHenry C. Westin 3O Forei n A lication Pi'iorit Data 1 g pp y 57ABSTRACT 19 May 70 Great Bmam 26Ml/70 The disclosure of this inventionrelates to an handllng [52 us. c1 ..214/1 BB, 29/568, 242/54, devce fortubular. 242 8 bers as used, for example, for wlndmg metalllc str1p 51Int. Cl ..B65g 65/01 8 material produced by a rolling [58] Field ofSearch ..2l4/ 1 ET, 1 BB, 82, 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures Patentd April24, 1973 /A/Vs-W7'0, CHARLES S. SAY/MAKER ATTORNEY.

SPOOL AND COIL HANDLING DEVICE FOR A ROLLING MILL In present-day rollingmill practice it is customary for certain materials to be coiled onspools instead of forming coils having no center support. As a result,equipment must be provided as part of the uncoiling and coilingfacilities for handlingthe spools which greatly complicates the designsand operations of such facilities.

I-Ieretofore, it has been a problem to provide means for efficiently andquickly placing the spools onto the tension reel provided at thedelivery side of the mill. The congestion in this area added to thedifficulty of providing an economical and dependable apparatus forhandling the spools.

The present invention provides a spool handling device capable of use ina very minimum amount of space; one that can also be combined withexisting equipment and which will assure that the spools will not hangup or damage the surface of the reel as they are brought over the reel.1

A further object of the present invention is to provide a spool feeder,comprising a cantileverly supported frame extending over a tension reelon which a spool is to be placed for winding of strip thereon undertension. The inner end of the frame is mounted on the drive or bearingstand of the reel and serves as a guide track for a gripper assembly.The gripper assembly consists of a pair of opposed movable jaws thatgrip the adjacent end of a spool supported in front of the reel in axialalignment therewith. The gripper assembly is advanced to and from thefront of the reel by a piston cylinder assembly and when in theinnermost position it ambushes beyond the collapsed reeling surface ofthe reel. The gripper assembly may also include a coil stripper having acylinder operated stripper plate that engages the inside end of a coilformed on the reel. When the gripper is moved toward the front of thereel, the stripper plate forces the coil and spool over the collapsedreel.

These objects, as well as other features and ad vantages of the presentinvention, will be better understood when the following description isread along with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of the delivery side of a rolling millincorporating the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view taken on lines 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an end view of the equipment illustrated in FIG. 2.

In referring first to FIG. 1 there is shown in diagrammatical form arolling mill 10 which is adapted to receive strip and roll it in thedirection indicated by the arrow and after which the strip is fed to atension reel 111 for coiling. The tension reel is driven by a drive 12and, while not shown, includes an expanding and collapsiblemechanism ofa design well known in the art. The two positions of the reel will varyfrom 20 22 inches. Following the tension reel 11 and in line with therolling mill 10, there is provided a belt wrapper 13 which is adapted tobe advanced to and from the reel 11 and in its advanced position causethe leading end portion of the strip to pass around a spool supported bythe expanded reel surface of the reel 11. The operation and constructionof the belt wrapper l3 and the reel 11 are well known in the art asillustrated in U. S. Pat. No. 2,172,616 that issued to Clarence J. Kleinon Sept. 12, 1939.

As noted previously, the present invention relates, in part, to a devicefor placing the spool on the reel 11. Before describing the deviceillustrated, reference will first be made to the conveyor system for thespools. In FIG. 1 there is provided a conveyor 14 on the outside of thebelt wrapper 13 which receives spools from behind the mill and bringsthem to a position in front of the mill. Accordingly, there is providedat the end of the conveyor 14 a lifting device 15 which lifts andtransfers the spools one at a time from the conveyor 14 onto a spoolstorage and feeder rack 16. This rack is designed to handle at leasteight spools which are shown in FIG. 1. It will be observed that a ninthspool is shown shifted in front of the tension reel 11. This shifting isaccomplished by a device 17 which consists of a pair of sliding ramsprojecting from under the rack 16 and which takes a spool from thestorage rack anti transfers it to a position directly in front of and inaxial alignment with the reel 1 1.

Before leaving FIG. 1 it should also be noted that outward from thespool, previously identified as being located in front of the mill,there is shown a completed coil with its supporting spool which has beenmoved away from the reel. 11 past the storage rack 16 by a coil car 18,where the coil will be removed to allow the next coil to be moved awayfrom the reel 11. The movement of the car 18 is subject to the shiftingdevice 17 being retracted to its position shown in FIG. 1. The size ofthe coils may range in diameter from 36 to 96 inches, weighing up to40,000 pounds, being formed of aluminum strip 30 78 inches wide and upto A inch thick.

Coming now to FIGS. 2 and 3, where there is illustrated a preferred formof the spool feeder and coil stripper device of the present invention,it will be noted that the reel 11 is again shown in which connection itshould be appreciated that the reel will be in its collapsed position inreadiness to receive a spool, a portion of which is shown in FIG. 2towards the left of the figure. The spools are constructed out of castcarbon steel tubing, each having an inside diameter of 20 inches, athickness of 2-% inches, being 84 inches long and having a weight ofapproximately 2,000 pounds. FIG. 2 also shows a portion of the reeldrive 12 in which connection it will be noted that at the top thereofthere are provided two spaced-apart supports 22 and 23 adapted toreceive identical longitudinally extending tubular members 24 whichextend over the reel 11 and are supported in a cantilever fashion by thesupports 22 and 23. The members 24 actually serve as spaced-apart guidesfor a gripper and stripper frame 25, which in FIG. 2 is shown advancedto the very end of the reel 1 1 in readiness to receive and grip a spoolto be mounted on the reel. This advancement is brought about through theagency of a piston cylinder assembly 26, shown only in FIG. 1.

The frame 25 of the gripper mechanism is best illustrated in FIG. 3where it takes the form of a generally rectangular shaped plate havingbushing sleeves 27 for sliding over the tubular members 24. The platealso is provided with a bracket 28 which supports a piston cylinderassembly 29, the lower end of the assembly being connected to a pair oftoggles 32. To the opposite ends of the toggles there are providedidentical bell cranks 33. The movement of the bell cranks-33 arecontrolled by control arms 34; one end of each of which is secured tothe frame 25 and the other end to associated gripper members 35 to whichalso the lower end of each bell crank 33 is connected. The grippermembers 35 are formed with gripping surfaces complementary to theoutside diameter of the spool and include in their center area grippingplates 36. One can readily see from FIG. 3 that in operating the pistoncylinder assembly 29 to extend the toggle 32, the gripper members 35 arebrought securely into a gripping relationship with the spool beingguided through a predetermined path of travel by the toggles 32, bellcranks 33 and the control arms 34.

Referring again to the plate carried by the gripper frame 25, outward ofthe piston cylinder assembly 29, there is secured to the plate a secondpiston cylinder as sembly 37, the piston of which, as in the case of thepiston cylinder assembly 29, extends in a downward direction, to whichthere is secured a stripper plate 38. This plate is formed so as toencircle the upper portion of the reel 11, at the drive side thereof,and presents a portion of the plate against the inside surface of a coilformed on the reel. In this position on the operation of the pistoncylinder assembly 26 after the reel has been collapsed, a coil formed ona spool supported by the reel will be urged with the spool over thereel. Of course, it will be understood that during this operation thecoil will be supported by the coil car 18 previously referred to.

Describing now briefly the operation of the coil feeder and in referringto FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be noted that once the gripper members 35 havebeen caused to engage the inner end of the spool, upon operation of thepiston cylinder assemblies 26, the inner end of the spool is carriedover the collapsed reel 11. The remaining portion of the spool at thistime will still be carried by transfer car 18 which will maintain thespool in axial alignment with the reel during the travel of the gripper.When the gripper frame 25 assumes the position shown in phantom in FIG.2, it will be noted it has proceeded past the inner end of the spool sothat it does not in any way interfere with the operation of the beltwrapper 13 or the formation of the coil itself. In this position thegripper members 35 are in their outer positions as shown in phantom inFIG. 3. Upon the completion of the coil the cylinder 26, as previouslynoted, will again be operated to urge the coil off the reel after thecylinder 27 has brought the stripper plate 38 into its operativeposition.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In combination with a cantileverly mounted reel for supporting aspool around which strip material is to be wound, a spool feedercomprising:

a frame,

means for cantileverly mounting said frame from the inboard end of saidreel so that said frame extends axially of said reel,

said frame including a pair of spaced-apart guide rods, a gripper memberincluding a pair of 18W elements having portions that engage theopposite sides of a spool and carried by said guide rods in a manner topermit movement axially of said reel,

means for causing said gripper member to engage a spool to be placed onsaid reel,

piston cylinder assemblies connected to said gripper member for causingsaid gripper member after the spool has been engaged thereby to carry aspool onto said reel,

means for supporting a spool in front of said reel and in axialallignment therewith,

said frame having a portion that overhangs a spool so supported wherebythe gripper member can be positioned to grip the inboard end of a spooland carry the spool on the reel,

a stripper member carried by said frame in a manner that it is movablewith said gripper member, said stripper member preceding said grippermember with respect to the inboard end of said reel, and means forcausing said stripper member to move from a position above a spool, inwhich position a spool may be placed on said reel, to a position behindsaid spool when a spool and coil are to be stripped.

1. In combination with a cantileverly mounted reel for supporting aspool around which strip material is to be wound, a spool feedercomprising: a frame, means for cantileverly mounting said frame from theinboard end of said reel so that said frame extends axially of saidreel, said frame including a pair of spaced-apart guide rods, a grippermember including a pair of jaw elements having portions that engage theopposite sides of a spool and carried by said guide rods in a manner topermit movement axially of said reel, means for causing said grippermember to engage a spool to be placed on said reel, piston cylinderassemblies connected to said gripper member for causing said grippermember after the spool has been engaged thereby to carry a spool ontosaid reel, means for supporting a spool in front of said reel and inaxial allignment therewith, said frame having a portion that overhangs aspool so supported whereby the gripper member can be positioned to gripthe inboard end of a spool and carry the spool on the reel, a strippermember carried by said frame in a manner that it is movable with saidgripper member, said stripper member preceding said gripper member withrespect to the inboard end of said reel, and means for causing saidstripper member to move from a position above a spool, in which positiona spool may be placed on said reel, to a position behind said spoOl whena spool and coil are to be stripped.